This peer tutoring program is a collaborative effort between Tierney Education, Penn State’s College of Health and Human Development (HHD), and the HHD Honor Society, a Registered Student Organization (RSO) at Penn State. The goal is to provide structured, research-based academic support while also creating meaningful volunteer opportunities for high-achieving HHD students.

Tutors in this program are volunteers. They are not paid by Tierney Education or the university. Instead, they earn volunteer service hours to fulfill their RSO membership requirements. Many of these students genuinely enjoy giving back to their academic community and supporting peers in challenging courses.

Tierney Education provides training and matching support for the program. We train tutors in evidence-based learning strategies rooted in cognitive science, including techniques like retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and metacognition. Once trained, tutors are matched with students for five one-hour tutoring sessions, offered completely free to the student.

While the tutoring is free for both tutor and student, the College of HHD compensates Tierney Education for our time in training tutors, managing the matching process, maintaining records, and ensuring the program runs smoothly each semester.

Some volunteer tutors do go on to become paid Tierney Education tutors in the future—but that opportunity is entirely optional and only available after their initial volunteer commitment is complete.

As an HHD Honors student, you have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact on your peers while fulfilling your volunteer service hour requirement for the HHD Honor Society. This peer tutoring program allows you to support fellow students in challenging courses while gaining valuable leadership and communication experience.

All tutors begin as volunteers, committing to five one-hour tutoring sessions after completing a short training. The training is grounded in evidence-based learning strategies—including recall, spaced practice, and metacognition—and equips you with tools that will benefit both your tutoring and your own academic success.

Many of our tutors say this experience is one of the most rewarding parts of their time in the Honor Society. After completing your five hours of volunteer service, you may also be eligible to continue as a paid tutor with Tierney Education.

Ready to give back, grow your skills, and support student success? Apply today to join our dedicated peer tutoring team.

For HHD Honors Students Looking to Tutor

📚 How the HHD Peer Tutoring Program Works

The HHD Peer Tutoring Program connects students seeking academic support with trained, high-achieving Honors students. This structured, volunteer-based program fosters collaborative learning, stronger study habits, and long-term academic growth. Here’s how it works:

1. Interest and Application
Students looking for tutoring and HHD Honors students interested in becoming peer tutors begin by completing a brief application form. These forms help us gather course-specific information—either what support is needed or which subjects a tutor is confident in.

2. Tutor Training
All peer tutors complete a short, research-based training program designed by Tierney Education. The training covers evidence-based learning strategies, including retrieval practice, spaced repetition, and metacognition. Once tutors complete the training and pass a short quiz, they are approved to begin working with students.

3. Matching Process
When a student submits a request, we manually match them with a peer tutor based on the course and availability. Each match includes five free one-hour sessions, and we ask both tutor and student to commit to those five sessions to build rapport and see meaningful progress.

4. Beyond the Five Sessions (Optional)
After completing the five free sessions, students have the option to continue working with their tutor through Tierney Education’s paid tutoring services. This is completely optional and arranged separately.

Current Offerings

This list is currently being updated for the upcoming semester.
The courses below reflect tutors who have already confirmed their availability for Fall 2025. As we finalize our tutor team, more courses will be added — so if you don’t see your class listed yet, please still submit a request, and we’ll do our best to match you.

Biology (BIOL)

• BIOL 110: Biology: Basic Concepts and Biodiversity

• BIOL 161: Human Anatomy and Physiology I - Lecture

• BIOL 162: Human Anatomy and Physiology I - Laboratory

• BIOL 163: Human Anatomy and Physiology II - Lecture

• BIOL 164: Human Anatomy and Physiology II - Laboratory

• BIOL 222: Genetics

• BIOL 230W: Biology: Molecules and Cells

If you have any questions, please contact the Honors Society faculty advisor Dr. Dennis Shea via email at dgs4@psu.edu or reach out directly to Tierney Education through the Contact Page.